5 Color Combinations to Avoid When Designing Your Brand

Dec 4

Written By Kiki B.

I can't help but CRINGE when clients ask me for certain color combinations.

I love color so much and sometimes it's hard for me to understand what brought them to this idea/want for their brand?

Maybe they saw another logo they liked in those colors and wanted it to be similar? Maybe they just really like red and black? Not sure for the reasoning but as a professional I know it's my job to kindly point them in the right color direction.

I literally could talk about color for hours and hours... it's seriously one of my favorite parts of the design process.

Buttttt, to keep me from going on a tangent I'm going to touch on color psychology and then dive right into some color combinations you should avoid when designing your brand.

Color Psychology

Whether you realize it or not, as soon as you see certain colors your brain triggers certain emotions.

Your brain instantly thinks of what the colors mean to you. Colors can strike feelings of nostalgia, happiness, anger, sadness, calm... the list goes on and on.⁠

Think about it for a second, when you stare at a certain color how does it make you feel? Do you find yourself always wearing greens or blues because it makes you feel calm or tranquil? Or are blues and greens your favorite colors?

We gravitate towards certain colors because they make us feel a certain type of emotion.

Quick example…

my fiancé and I have completely different tastes when it comes to picking out certain furniture for the house (LOL). I personally love the "light and airy" feel. Mostly white and light-colored furniture with gold accents and pops of bright colors here and there. He likes the dark brown and black colors with dark painted walls. Sounds a little depressing to me but to him, I believe it makes him feel more masculine and its what he prefers *shrugs shoulders*.

Everyone is different...

In my opinion, there are some obvious key indicators that pop into my head when I see certain color combinations and I would consider avoiding these when designing your brand:

Color Combination #1 - Blue and Red

The American Flag, the 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labatt Blue, Buffalo Bills... are you thinking of a few of these holidays as well?

Red and Blue is a very "patriotic" color combination, and if that's what you're going for then great! But I would not use it in most brand design cases.

Color Combination #2 - Orange and Black

Halloween, Halloween, Halloween (LOL) I will admit that I have seen some instances where this combination looks good on some branding but it does give off a very masculine vibe. If you love these colors and are deadset on using them for your brand because your brand is masculine I would recommend using one color more than the other. It's better if one color is the primary color and the other is an "accent color".

Color Combination #3 - Green and Red

*singing* We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!

Off the top of your head can you think of any brand you like that uses a red and green color palette for their primary colors? I know I can't.

I may be sounding a little harsh at this point but hey... I take the topic of color very seriously.

Color Combination #4 - Yellow & Black

Bumble Bee, taxi-cab, traffic cones, road signs...

Again, this is a little similar to orange and black, it can be positively used for brand design but keep in mind that these colors give off a masculine feeling/vibe.

Color Combination #5 - Red & Black

Death, blood, horror movies, rock, and roll, stranger things...

Unfortunately, this color combination is very dark and depressing, very uninviting and unfriendly. When a customer sees these colors it’s can be very unapproachable.

I can see why maybe this combination may appeal to some but to most, it’s viewed as a more “dark” design direction.

There Are Exceptions

Of course, this post is written by me and the opinions/experience that I’ve formed over the years from being a brand designer. I have seen some brands use these combinations in a way that isn’t overpowering, meaning, they maybe have these colors as their secondary colors and they compliment the primary colors.

I’ve also seen a few brands use black and yellow but very minimally to a point where they were not the primary colors for the brand and the main graphic element of the brand was different textures derived from photographs.

There is no right or wrong answer but color psychology is real. You cannot ignore how colors can spark a brain wave that sends signals to your body revealing certain emotions.

Need I say more?

All-in-all, color can be a lot of fun to play with. I get so excited every time I open up Pinterest and see a beautiful color palette. If you need some more inspiration for color ideas, color palettes or different color combinations, I've filled up my color palette board on Pinterest with some incredibly beautiful color palettes.

I hope this post helped you with your branding needs. As always, I'm here to help you with any brand design related question or problem you may have.

Feel free to comment below or get in touch here.

Until next time my EyeSavvy Guru!

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Hey there, I’m Kiki! Fine artist turned brand designer. I help small businesses elevate their visual brand. I also help brand designers like me increase their rates & scale their businesses for ultimate freedom!